Posts tagged “Love”

Happy Valentine’s Day, my lady sisters! On this special day, affection does not stop with the confectionery. Let’s all love ourselves (a little bit more). I want to see you celebrate the beauty that you undeniably own and I want to celebrate with you and for you.

I’m a big believer in maximizing the utility of anything before putting it back to the environment. Needless to say, I recycle papers and reuse plastic bags, etc. Once in a while, when I use vegetables in the kitchen, I’d imagine the possibilities of growing them in my garden. Therefore, I save seeds.

The other day, I remembered some that I kept since last year. Not thinking much of the season, I planted them and was instantly rewarded with the nice little faces of these sprouts. How cute they are (remember, I’m a photographer that sees cuteness or beauty in most anything)?

Do I remember what I planted? No. Would I worry if I’d get fruits from them? Not really, although it’ll be nice. I don’t worry about the end results as much as I want to enjoy the process and make sure to put in the due effort (Hey, I “single-handedly” brought these lives into this world. I’d need to be responsible.). With anything, I believe that if I do enough of right things, the positive energy will go around and eventually come as rewards as I least expect it.

What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts.

P.S. I am curious though how this plant will turn out to be. I know it’s a squash type. So, would it be a pumpkin, a cucumber, a winter melon or something else that I happened to stash the seeds away last year? Anybody with a green thumb can tell? 🙂

As a photographer, I have long been thinking about a new format of product.

The idea came about because my clients keep telling me that, even though they have beautiful wall art pieces from a select few of the images that I produce from our photography sessions, they like ALL of the ones that I presented to them. So to create something beautiful and something that allows my clients to hold on to and to “show off” the nice portraits has been an obsession for me.

One day, an aha moment came and this slideshow show video was produced, using some sample images from a newborn photography session.

God knows how behind I am in posting my photo sessions. However, Valen’s mommy could not wait for me to finish processing all the images. So I am putting out some sneak peeks of the session while I finish with the rest.

Valen, a cute little guy entered this world, a little early. He was supposed to be the little valentine for his parents, on the oh-so famous “love day” (hence the name). Well, I can see why – he couldn’t hold off all the excitement that he will bring. Me, for sure, was one excited photographer and could not help but falling in love with this small bundle.

Now you see, at a tenderly young age of two and a half weeks, Valen shows you the many facets that a (newborn) baby could have:

Valen the singer:

Valen the conductor:

The thinker:

The…ummm…according to mommy and daddy, this is the look when he is into something. Diaper! Quick!Valen loves mommy:

Valen is tired:

He just… just wants to sleep, after he put out a big show:

What can I say, this future heart-breaker is such a joyful bundle…

… full of colors:

Nice to meet you, Valen! Welcome to this world!

P.S. You’d notice that I was playing with different tonal effects. And no matter what I chose, Valen continues to be such a good-looking little guy. 🙂

This is THE day. Traffic is jammed from the delivery trucks of the florists. Prices of roses are hiked up. Restaurants are packed since the weekend with nicely dressed patrons. Red is the most common color of the day. This is THE day, the Valentine’s Day.

Despite the seemingly hassle and costs, we still go out of our way to celebrate. Hey, what’s the point of life if we don’t stop and smell the roses from time to time (for many of us, once a year)? 😉

Well, well, well… We just can’t (and shouldn’t) stop having fun with photography. Why would we? Life is filled with wonderful opportunities to memorize, let alone the holidays that are clearly marked on the calendar. If you know me, you’d expect that I throw out another one of those contests to have (more) fun for this coming holiday.

For the culturally versed, you may say it’s the Chinese New Year. Yes, I will be celebrating it. But I’m not sure that all my reader/fans would. So, while I light up the fire-crackers (in my mental visualization), you are probably thinking about another holiday.

So, here is our new “excuse” to have fun – How Many Ways Can You Say “I Love You” – 2011 Valentine’s Day Photo Contest!

Winning is (as always) easy :-):

1. Sleep on it (yes, in your sleep) tonight because your brain will thank you tomorrow. 🙂

2. Tell us what you’d do for someone important in your life to celebrate this Valentine’s Day (it can be your significant other, your pet(s), your parent(s), your child(ren), etc.). Since it’s a photo contest, capture the essence of what you’d do in a picture.

4. Submit your picture(s) to the wall of the fan page (link in #3), as many photos as you’d like. Ensure your photo(s) are rated G (i.e., safe for all ages). Again, no limit on number of photos to submit. But each idea should be represented by only one picture.

5. Now, here’s the fun part: Vote for creative ideas by “liking” the photos representing them. And, promote your photos to gain as many “likes” as possible. So ask your friends and family to vote for you.

5a. I know I just said this: Photos are judged on creativity. So photos that are less than professional could still win the contest as long as they are “safe” (please see #4 again).

6. Deadline to submit and vote is noon (12:00 PM) US Pacific Time on Monday January 24th, 2011.

7. The picture(s) with the most “likes” goes home with a prize (Note: each picture is a separate entry. The picture with the most “likes” wins).

8. Number of winning pictures is determined by number of fans as of the cut-off date of the contest (i.e.,12:00 PM US Pacific Time on Monday January 24th, 2011). One winning photo for every 100 fans.

When Lissette contacted me about a surprise party that she and her family was planning for her mother, I was so excited and almost rushed out of my mouth “hire me, hire me”. That’s exactly the kind of environment where I’d love the energy from, the care, the love and, of course, the surprise. 🙂

Lucky for me, I got to experience the wonderful party, at a beautiful venue while all the festivities were in the air.

Lissette, I’d say all the hard work that went into the party was worth it, even though you had to hide it from your mom while doing the planning under the same roof! What a fun party – the hugging and kissing (:-)), the nice food, the mariachi band and the dancing, the dancing, and more dancing. Even with the tears coming up when you and your sister were giving a speech, I’d still say it’s a great party. 🙂

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience such a beautiful party and to meet your beautiful family! And Aida, happy birthday! I’m sure the memories of this night will stay with you for a long time, with the help of my pictures. 🙂

Remember Sharon and Dennis, the expecting parents that I worked with on the maternity portraits? Well, their baby princess has joined us. But before I get on to how sweet and beautiful she looks, I thought I’d finish some “old business”.

Sharon and Dennis were exciting about the portraits that turned out and chose one of the maternity portraits to enlarge for the living room. They have a nice house with contemporary decor. Much as I expected, they liked the frame-less looks of pictures. Upon presenting them with the different options, the picture was processed on a gallery wrap with Giclée prints.

It is a picture printed directly onto museum quality canvas material using high quality archival inks. The canvas print is then wrapped around a stretcher frame so that the photo’s edges are visible on the sides of the frame. Frames are available in 3/4, 1-1/2, and 2-1/2 -inch depths. Given the size and the taste preference of the couple, we chose 3/4-inch frames for their gallery wrap. Additionally, a lustre finishing spray is applied to protect the surface of the print. Alternatively, glossy spray can be applied to taste as well. With the appropriate (easy) care (e.g., no direct exposure to harsh sunlight, etc.), this beautiful wall art will last years and years.

As you’d see in the pictures below, the gallery wrap is finished with paper backing for a more finished look (Customers have the choice of no paper backing as well). Hanging hardware was attached – in this case, a sawtooth. So installation is a piece of cake. At the bottom of the backing, bumpers were applied to provide room for air circulation.

It was a beautiful day and Sharon and Dennis definitely made it brighter.

While their little daughter still has one more month to meet them, any experienced parents would say that the last month is not getting any easier. Setting up the nursery (decoration, furniture, clothing…), having the baby shower(s) and the extra weight on mommy’s body…

Yet, when I took the maternity portraits for this pair of parents, I saw nothing but happiness. I’m sure you’d agree with me once you see the pictures below:
OK, we’ve all seen Sharon’s belly, which is expected to grow in the next month. Now, do you think Dennis has one? Trust me, I’ve tried very hard to find his in all of my pictures as he is such a fit guy. 🙂 So ladies and gentlemen, my best effort on Dennis’ belly:

Since I love the first picture so much, here’s a different version to it:

This next one does not show the “bun”. But if you know me, you’d know that I will not let that motherly glow slip away:

Wouldn’t you agree that Sharon is a beautiful mommy?

Now, let’s show some love and support by “liking” and/or commenting on this post! Congratulations, Sharon and Dennis!

P.S. To view finished product of the fine art Giclée canvas gallery wrap for one of the pictures above, please click here.

The wait is finally over, at least for me. I’ve been dying to share my thoughts on my recent blog “Looking Beyond the Obvious“. So, I’m going to dash straight to the subject of discussion…

“What Are They”

Image via Wikipedia

What you see in picture #1 was, well you guessed it, love, lot of it. When our first lady started planting vegetables, she was not alone. This eggplanty-looking Roma tomato came from the organic garden of my parents’ back-yard. And for any of my friends out there that are experienced with “parents”, their love comes out-pouring. While that tomato is still sitting in my kitchen as a reminder to write this post, you know what, they brought the hot pepper seedlings when they found out I’m into vegetable gardening too, except I’m not sure what to do with the pepper that could be too spicy for me.

Now, the second picture shows an irregularly shaped lemon, from the tree in my yard. I know I have friends that would pick perfectly shaped lemons and nicely plate them as a decor (and possibly to show off). Well, truth is that none of the picture-perfect lemons from our tree has evoked as much

Image via Wikipedia

emotions from my husband as this one does. I noticed that every time he sees this oddly looking object, he cracks into smiles. In this day and age, almost all of us are subject to varying levels of stress. While a yoga session or a Mediterranean cruise may do the wonders, nothing beats a “low-cost” fruit that quietly sits there and makes him smile every day.

The third picture baffled even my husband. My philosophy to life is that every body and every thing comes to this world for a reason. And they should all be given the best opportunity to accomplish what they came here for. So when the jasmine flowers prematurely fell off the branches, I collected them inside. Their light aroma brings childhood memories of places that don’t look the same anymore (if you like, you could read my thoughts on modernization here and here). And who would have expected that the pale-white flowers would celebrate the end of their lives by giving out the most splendid array of colors?

Now, my friends, you’ve known a little about my back-yard, my parents and my husband. Click the “like” button if you like anything that I said. I’d be even more flattered if you would leave a comment by clicking the link to “Leave a Comment”. 🙂